Home for COVID-19? Here’s How to Make the Most of It!

Mar 20, 2020

At-home Activities During COVID-19

We all need some distraction during this time: a chance to unwind and make the best of our current situations. While our campuses, as well as local shops and restaurants, are closed during COVID-19, we have the chance to share experiences even though we can’t interact in ways we are used to.

Let’s face it, the majority of people across the globe are at home for the foreseeable future. However, that doesn’t mean that you cannot DO things while you self-isolate! Read on for our list of fun and free activities to do that can boost your morale, well-being, and mood!

Listen Up

Partake in digital music festivals and performances! Many groups and bands are in a financial bind right now, as tours have been postponed and even outright canceled. While some musicians are offering lessons online, others have started livestreaming performances to continue to entertain their fanbase!

NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts are intimate performances from some of the biggest names (and hidden gems) in music! From Jimmy Eat World to Freddie Gibbs, this series showcases a variety of talent, offering something for everyone to appreciate!

Take a Course

Learning doesn’t have to take a back seat. Sharpen your current skills or learn entirely new ones!

Ivy League colleges are offering classes at no cost! You can learn about American law or even psychology! Free online courses from Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale are provided through Class Central.

Khan Academy is a free online resource of courses to keep you and your children learning. This non-profit provides people with free education on a variety of topics. Right now, they are offering daily schedules for children from ages 4-18 that can keep them busy, interested, and engaged! From science and engineering to math and test prep, this website is filled to the brim with content that is helpful and – best of all – completely free!

Study

It will be a little while before students can come back to the classroom, but that doesn’t mean that education has to be on hold! Take the time to go through your study materials and books.

Not only will this time help you to be better prepared for any upcoming tests and exams, but it will definitely help the topics stick in your mind more than refraining from studying for weeks. Check out our blog about studying for tips on how to make the process a bit easier However, consider studying with family members at home than your peers during this time!

Cook

We’re not talking about making extravagant meals with tons of ingredients. During the COVID-19 period, some chefs have begun to showcase videos of cooking simple dishes with items from the pantry. One of our favorites is Binging with Babish’s Chickpea Recipe video, where he makes different items from chickpeas!

If you’d like more of the written form, there are plenty of free recipes online! Some recipes often do not take many ingredients and can be a great way to cook simple meals for the whole family. For example, consider a slow cooker meal where you can throw in the ingredients and have meals prepared in mere hours! It’s also an excellent way to meal prep throughout the week, saving time and money.

Explore a Museum or Aircraft

Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you can’t learn more about history and art! Architectural Digest has compiled a list of 10 of the world’s leading museums that anyone can explore from the comfort of their couch!

For all you aviation nerds (we are, too), there are ways to feed that passion of aircraft! The Museum of Flight offers virtual tours of various aircraft, from the Boeing VC-137B “Air Force One” to even the Concorde!

Meditate

Destress by taking advantage of free meditation resources during COVID-19. Our current situation can feel overwhelming. However, there are ways to remain calm and (attempt) to be at peace while distancing yourself from others.

Multiple blogs and websites are available to help you learn and hone meditation techniques. There are even apps for your phone that you can take advantage of!

Calm is offering its services free of charge during this time. The app provides different meditation techniques, as well as calm music, if you’re simply trying to drift off to sleep. Here are five more free apps to check out and increase your mindfulness and improve your mood!

Deep Dive into Scholarly Content (Tuition Free)

Scholarly content is typically locked behind a paywall. However, in the COVID-19 landscape, a few sites have waived their fees! Take a look at JSTOR, one of the leading academic websites that many universities and colleges use. Search thousands of free journal articles and open access book chapters.

Project Muse is also currently providing free material during this time! Many universities have allowed their content to be freely available through Project Muse, including books and journals!

Keep Positive with a Dose of Good News

Look, we could all use some good news right now. Luckily, there are a few places that’s sole purpose is to provide positive and happy news. Take a break from the stress of COVID-19 by deep-diving into content that will put a smile on your face. The subreddit r/UpliftingNews is a great place to start, as well as tanksgoodnews on Instagram.

Learn a New Language

Download Duolingo (always free), or a similar app, and teach yourself a foreign language! If you took classes in the past, this is a fantastic way to brush up on those rusty language skills. There are plenty of online dictionaries, translators, and even videos on YouTube that can also assist you in your journey!

Read

Read books you always meant to make time for. Share stories with your kids. Have your kids read to you. See if your pet likes hearing stories! If you don’t have books, listen to these stories for free via Audible.

Amazon currently has many children’s books available for free online. Alternatively, you can find free classic novels such as Moby Dick, Gulliver’s Travels, Hamlet, Great Expectations, and more here!

Watch Video Tutorials Free

YouTube is one of the best places on the internet to find out how to do… stuff. Things like:

Adventure Journal also has a few livestreams linked that can be found here!

Activities to do at home during COVID-19

This is a trying time for us all. Many people are at home, some with children. It’s important to take the time for yourself and be with your family. We want nothing more than to see everyone back at our campuses and taking the next steps in their aviation careers. For now, we hope that this blog showcases some things you may be interested in to entertain yourself or your families. We appreciate each and every one of you, and we hope that you are safe and healthy.

As always, we will provide updates through our website and will post about them on social media. We are eager to see each student back in the classroom, and cannot wait to help you continue your path in aviation maintenance!